broken souls
by fluffywheeler
Summary: in which jane “eleven” hopper is missing for 353 days, and mike wheeler finds comfort where he was least expecting it.
1. chapter 1

once upon a time, in a wonderful little town in indiana, a boy and a girl fell in love. a boy found a girl, soaked through in an oversized t-shirt, in the middle of the woods in the middle of the night. he brought her home, made her a fort in his basement, and gave her fresh clothes and a place to call home. she saved him from an evil monster, and he lost her.

one day he found her again, and they lived happily ever after. but the story isn't as simple as that.

but this is a story of what happened while jane "eleven" hopper was missing, for 353 days.

a story filled with mike wheeler hurting in more ways then one, and a girl named max mayfield who had more secrets then he could uncover. a story filled with heartbreak and hurt, and two lost souls clinging to each other, because they'd lost all other hope.

a story of two broken kids making one another their only safe haven.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE :)**

 _hi omg! i'm still figuring out how this app works, since i'm more of a wattpad girl myself lmao. so i had some ideas but i have so many books on wattpad so i thought i'd test them out on here and i guess get some feedback if anyone reads this agh. i hope you enjoy my angsty madwheeler book, and i'm super excited to get to know you all!_


	2. chapter one

"MIKE!" the scream echoed through the hallway, and shivers rocketed up his spine as the screams grew louder and louder. mike choked on a sob, his feet pounding through the water soaking the floor, as he rounded corner after corner, his body about to give up from exhaustion. "ELEVEN!" he screamed, his voice echoing through the empty hallway, blood smearing across the walls, it's glowing tint making tears slide down mike's freckled cheeks. he reached up, wiping the tears off his face, smearing blood on his face, though it didn't do much. his face was already caked with dirt and tears enough he would be unrecognizable to even his family.

"mike.." her voice sounded closer this time. he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, and he saw her. she was curled in a ball, her dress in tatters and tears spotting her rosy face. mike sank to his knees in the dirty water,reaching out his hand, towards her face. "it's okay, el. i'm here now."

"goodbye," she whispered, and her ear splitting scream echoed in his ears as he shot up in bed, panting. sweat caked his whole body, and flooded his eyes, as he choked on another sob, laying back down and pulling the covers over his head to muffle his sobs.

he'd already woken his family nights and nights after el left. it had been months, and yet he couldn't let her face slip out of his mind.

goodbye, mike.

he'd kept the hope that she would come back, hidden inside of him, and he fought at it, but at this point, it had almost been a whole year since she left, and all the other boys had seemed to... forget about her.

he ran a hand through his snarly hair, wiping tears off his face and pulling the covers off of him, letting the bust of cold wind from his fan hit him in the face, making goosebumps appear on his pale arms. he took deep, heavy, ragged breaths as he pulled back his covers and opened his bedroom door, heading down the stairs to get a glass of water.

he peered out the kitchen window, seeing a shape on the porch across the street. a new family had moved in the week before, and he recognized maxine's flaming red hair even in the dark. he glanced at his watch.

3:05 am.

why was she awake? he watched her for another minute. she didn't move, just sat on the front porch, her arms wrapped around her body, hugging it close to herself. he couldn't see her face, but she just sat there, in the dark.

he shook his head to clear his thoughts, heading back up the stairs, frowning. maxine didn't make sense a lot of the time, and that's why he didn't like her. she didn't belong in their group. she was different. and not a good kind of different. he puffed his hair out of his face as he shut his bedroom door and lay back on top of his covers, staring up at the ceiling as he lay in silence.

he didn't sleep again, that night. thoughts of el weren't in his mind anymore, instead he thought of why in the world maxine was outside in the cold, by herself.

he forgot his water.


	3. chapter two

summertime was the worst. mike's sweaters were in the back of his closet, and he pulled self consciously at his t-shirt as he sat on his neatly made bed, his eyes closed as his fan blew cool air right into his face, making his eyelashes flutter.

his heart hurt.

he tried antidepressants, he tried cutting himself (as the scars along his pale wrists proved), and he tried a therapist, but el's face flooded his mind more every day, and he didn't even go out with his friends anymore.

his eyes fixed on his wall, and he jumped as a rock hit his window, startling him. he turned slowly, stepping off his bed and sliding the window open, frowning at the wave of heat that overwhelmed him there.

lucas cupped his hands over his mouth, yelling up to mike's window. "when are you coming out of there, slug?! you never leave that stuffy room! come on a bike ride or something!" mike opened his mouth to reject his offer, but suddenly he realized he really did need to get out of the house. "okay, maybe," mike called back, his voice cracking from not talking to anyone for so long. max's flaming red hair appeared next to lucas, and she smiled and glanced up at mike. he narrowed his eyes at her. "actually, i just realized i have something to do," he called, and slammed his window shut.

he watched lucas say something to max, and she shrugged, glancing back up at mike's window before the two headed off, climbing onto their bikes.

stupid maxine.

mike grumbled to himself as he plopped back onto his bed, anger burning through him that max had replaced him so easily.

"mike! do you want some lunch?" karen's call drifted up from the kitchen, and he shook his head to himself. "no!" he yelled, and threw his body backwards so that it smacked on the bed. his eyes fluttered closed and he sighed, his stomach rumbling, but he drifted into sleep quickly.

"MIKE!" the echoing scream startled mike, and he blinked in the darkness, glancing around him, el's calls screaming at him.

"i'm here, el!" he called, his voice cracking, as he heard her sob. no matter how far or long he searched, he couldn't seem to find her. her screams grew more high pitched as she yelled out for him.

"ELEVEN!" he screamed, and he spotted her, and ran, and then-

a pounding on his window startled mike, and he threw himself up again, drool spotting the corners of his mouth as he jerked awake.

he opened his window, yelping in suprise as max pushed past him into his room. she slammed the window

shut and turned to face him, her arms crossed and anger prominent on her freckled face. "and you'll tell me why you're breaking into my room in the middle of the night?" mike accused.

max threw her arms up into the air with a puff of exasperation. "i don't get why you hate me so much!" she growled. "i never did ANYTHING to you!" she complained, her eyes searching mike's.

"i don't hate you," mike grumbled. "i just dislike you, and it's not because you did anything, it's because you don't belong in the party."

"why not?" max almost screamed, and mike slapped a hand over her mouth, glancing towards the door to his room.

max lowered her voice, but the hurt was still evident in it as she spoke again. "is it because of eleven? because i don't even know her, and i don't want to take her spot,"

tears jumped into mike's eyes quicker then they'd both thought possible, as his voice lowered threateningly. "don't you DARE mention el. you don't know anything about her. she'll always be a part of the party and you never will."

max seemed broken, and she shrugged her shoulders slightly, her voice full of emotion. "i'm always here to talk, if you want," she muttered.

mike was taken aback at these words, and he stared at her in silence before glancing away, salty tears pouring down his cheeks. "just please get out of my house," he whispered, and max hesitated before nodding, sliding out of his window and climbing back down his wall.

mike watched her run across the front yard, but instead of going inside of her house, she sat back down on her front deck, and mike furrowed his eyebrows as she stayed there. he watched her for a couple minutes before slamming his window shut and turning off his light, crawling back into his bed, thoughts of the red haired girl filling his head once more.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE :)**

 _okay so i've been asked to write non-lowercase, and i'm considering it, the only problem is that i have a few prewritten chapters that are in lowercase. i don't think it would look good to switch in the middle of the book /_


	4. chapter three

mike avoided max and the rest of the party as long as he could the next two and a half weeks, but max's words still rang in his head.

 _you can always talk to me._

what did she think she was, a therapist? he snorted to himself as he picked at the blood scabs on his freshly cut arms. he glanced up as nancy entered the room, and he immediately buried his hand in his lap to hide the scratches from her.

nancy raised any eyebrow. "you doing okay, bud?" she hummed, and mike nodded. "yeah, i'm fine." nancy snuffed his room, and wrinkled her nose. "you should get out of here. you never leave this room. go hang out with your friends. it's summer."

"i'm alright." mike replied, fixing his focus back onto his window, watching holly play in the front yard, her blonde ponytails bouncing as she jumped around. if only he could be that carefree!

"c'mon, mike. come downstairs at least." nancy begged, and he obliged to her pleading as to not be asked why he was always in his bedroom. she smiled as he followed her down the stairs for the first time in days, which surprised karen when she spotted him. "hey honey," she said cautiously, eyeing nancy. "what-," she took nancy aside and whispered something to her, and mike sighed and headed into the living room, sitting on the couch, his eyes immediately fixing to the tv.

 **breaking news: reports of a "teenage girl with mind powers" have been circulating near the edge of the woods-**

suddenly the tv was flipped off, and mike glared at his mother. "turn that back on!" he begged, and she crossed her arms. "mike, you never spend time with us! just at least have dinner with our family for once in a lifetime," she groaned. mike glanced once more at the now black screened tv, and a deep sigh tumbled out of his mouth as he followed her, his mind rushing. could that be el? is she okay? is she here? he couldn't focus on what was happening throughout the entire meal, thoughts of seeing el again flooding his head and making goosebumps appear on his arms.

he was drowning in his own confusion as his mom sent him up to bed, and even after he turned off his bedroom light, he was tossing and turning in his bed, his body not allowing him to sleep.

he opened his window, breathing in the fresh air, glancing out at the dark sky, and closing his eyes.

 _please let el come back to me._

suddenly movement fluttered and he blinked, noticing max creep onto her front porch again and sit cross legged. she glanced up, and their eyes met for a minute. mike took a deep, tumbling sigh, and closed his window, slowly exiting his room and heading down the stairs.

maybe he should have thought about this more.

he unlatched the front door and shut it carefully behind him as he crossed the street to max's house. she didn't move as he took a seat next to her, just continued to look out at the sky.

"mike wheeler, how pleasant to see you here," she mumurmured after a couple minutes of silence had passed between the two."i know i said i didn't want to talk to you," mike grumbled, "but at this point you're all i've got."

he swore he saw a smile creep onto max's face, but she brushed it away before he could accuse her.

"okay, mike. what do you want to talk about?" she murmured, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as she adjusted her body to face him.

"how much have the boys told you about el?" mike asked, his heart hurting as he spoke her name. he tried to keep tears from spilling out of his eyes.

max blinked at him, sadness on her face. "they said you guys found her, when you were walking to will's house, and then she like, stayed in your basement. and she was... very special. to you." max sighed. "i'm so sorry, mike. i really am. that must've _sucked,_ to lose her."

mike nodded slightly. "yeah. it really did suck. i miss her so much. maybe one day she'll come back to me. i just don't know if she's safe, or even _alive,_ or what. i just know that she's gone."

"well i'm sure that she's alive and safe," max chided. "her family is probably taking care of her."

"huh?" mike glanced up at max's comforting face, realizing with a start that the boys had told her much less then he thought they had.

"i know having somebody you love move really does suck, but she might come back to visit here? where did she move again? utah?" max gave him a smile.

"yeah, utah," mike muttered, his heart low. they were both quiet for a moment, and a tear slipped out of mike's eye, so he glanced away so max wouldn't see it.

"it's okay, you know." she muttered. "losing someone you love is hard. i know how it feels." a distant look crossed over her face, but she brushed it off. "i feel lonely all the time, just like you. i like hanging out with the boys, but when they're not around, it sucks a lot. i'm telling you, come back to the party. it'll make you feel better."

"i don't think it will." mike mumbled, a few more tears splashing down his cheeks. "it's just, i don't think you _do_ understand. el was... different. she wasn't a normal person. she was more. and she was the most special person i've ever met. and she's not coming back to visit, ever. i don't know if i'll ever see her again. and i can't do anything other then miss her. it hurts so bad," max gaped as tears ran down mike's cheeks. "and i just wanna... i wanna crawl into a hole and _die._ " he finished with a sniffle, jumping up and stepping down her porch stairs, heading off across her grass.

"i'm _so_ sorry, mike!" she called after him. "please come back tomorrow! let's talk more!"

"not likely," he yelled back, tears still staining his pale skin. he brushed them off with the back of his hand, another sniffle escaping his body.

 _this majorly sucked._

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE :)**

 _okay so, it's kind of weird talking to you all since i don't like even know if people are reading this, but um i thought i'd inform you (since really you're all new readers since this is my only book on here (minus jenna thanks for coming over here lovely)) that i've actually never written madwheeler before! i actually didn't even like the ship, but i came up with this idea and decided to go for it. im more of a mileven/fillie girl, and that's why i'm posting this on here, so i can get feedback before i post it on wattpad._


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